Welcome to our monthly Fly on the Wall, a blog post written in snippets. Marcia, Diane, Sarah, and I invite you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes, at our writing desks, and in our worlds. Come on in, buzz around, see what we've been up to. Bet you laugh!
I knew I was going to use the grill for dinner, so I went out in the morning to uncover it. I hadn't yet dressed, was only wearing a long t-shirt and my underwear, but it was really early so I didn't think twice.
The ties on the grill cover are really low. I bent down to undo one side, then went over to do the other. When I stood back up, I was mortified.
Hubs saw me coming back into the kitchen.
Hubs: What were you doing out on the deck so early?
Me: Apparently, mooning the neighbors.
And now I won't be leaving the house anytime soon. Or ever.
College boy has a day job and a side gig. The day job really was a toxic environment. He had been there over 2 years, but one day he'd just had enough and gave his notice. They tried to get him to stay, but he was done.
Within a week he had 3 offers, and we were going through the pros and cons, talking it through with him as he made his choice. We talked about the companies, the culture, the pay, and the position itself.
We were also talking about the dress codes, some companies more casual than others.
College Boy (referring to one of the companies, a drug company): Well, I won't have to worry about what I wear there, they said that they'll provide a full body hazmat suit.
Me: That one's a NO.
College Boy: But . . .
Me (interrupting him): No, nope, that's a HARD no.
I probably don't need to tell you that we're into the height of pothole season. And Hubs? He hits every single one.
We were out on a Saturday afternoon when Hubs hit what felt like a meteor crater.
Me: Oof.
Hubs: You OK?
Me (with my fingers in my mouth): mgfffthf.
Hubs (looking at me): What are you doing?
Me: Counting my teeth.
Me: Counting my teeth.
I was sitting out on my front porch when I saw this woman walk by. She was holding a rope that was attached to a tricycle that was trailing right behind her.
And I spent the rest of the day wondering how long it was going to take her to turn around and realize that somewhere along the way she lost the kid.
College Boy had asked if he could store some stuff in our garage. I agreed that he could have one large box, but I don't want him filling that whole third garage with junk. And PurDude parks there, so when he comes to visit, he'll need to move that stuff out or to one of the storage rooms in the basement.
I was on my way out to do an errand when I saw that his box was piled high, with more stuff behind and beside it. I wasn't happy.
I was at the drug store waiting in line to pay, when he apparently had seen my car out front and came in. As he was walking towards me, I looked up:
Me (angrily): You're out of your box.
Me (angrily): You're out of your box.
College Boy: Sorry, I'll head home.
Woman in line behind me (looking back and forth between College Boy and I) to College Boy, angrily: She keeps you in a box?
Me: Well, where do you keep your grown children?
Lemon Strawberry Refrigerator Bars
There's a page that often ends up in my FB feed that promotes unique ideas and solutions for everyday occurrences. Many of them are fascinating, or helpful. But often they're what I would call way too far off the deep end.
This one at first had me cringing, but honestly, I've been laughing ever since.
Apparently it's a genius idea for how to eat your snacks on a plane?
Ummm, yeah, I'm gonna take a hard pass on wearing a toilet.
I've mentioned before that a few times a year, PurDude and his college friends, now scattered across the country, plan a vacation together. Mostly it's within the states, but the last one was to Japan.
My son knows that I like to have his itinerary whenever he travels. This month they were going to Seattle. A few days before leaving, he texted me:
PurDude: Here's my flight information, Mom, I leave the day after tomorrow.
PurDude: Here's my flight information, Mom, I leave the day after tomorrow.
Me: Can't wait to hear about the trip, are you packed?
PurDude (who does nothing in advance): No, not yet.
Me: Not surprised. Looks like it's a long fight, don't forget to bring your toilet seat on the plane.
PurDude: My toilet seat?
Me: In case you want to have a snack on the plane.
PurDude: I think you need your meds adjusted.
Me: Maybe . . .
Speaking of toilets. Found this cereal on the Walmart website, and I just want to say . . . well, I actually don't know what to say.
I do have a lot of questions, though.
It always surprises me when people use words just for emphasis without any thought to what they mean.
I was watching a true crime show where a woman was confronting her husband about rumors she'd heard about him cheating with a woman about half his age.
Cheater (to his wife): You think I'm cheating? With her? She's literally 100 years younger than me.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand the concept of "literally."
Seriously!
The fly was witness to some sadness this month too.
I enjoy all of the friendships I've made via this blog and the social media accounts I've created in support of my writing. One of those long time virtual friends is Barb. She interacts on my Baking In A Tornado FB page daily. We're friends on our private FB accounts too, our politics and social justice views align perfectly.
I hadn't heard from her for a few days, so I sent her a PM, just checking in to be sure she was OK. Her grandson answered. She wasn't.
The next morning, I shared a post on the Baking In A Tornado page. I was careful neither to tag her page, or even to mention her last name. I didn't want to step on the family's toes.
So I shared this graphic
and said:
"Heartbroken today after a PM conversation last night with the grandson of a woman who had been so active on this page for years. We traded silly poems every day as she responded with her own funny rhymes to all of my Connections poems. I've SO enjoyed her sharp wit, intelligence, social stance, and fun word pay. I never met her, but I will miss Barb so much. My heart goes out to her family."
That day, my post was reacted to and commented on by member of my FB page community, many people who knew Barb via interactions there.
The second day more people reacted. When I looked at the list of names, I jolted.
Barb.
I don't know who in her family saw my post, or how they saw it, but they used her account to "like" it. After I got over the initial shock, I had a wave of sadness.
But in the end, I smiled.
Now click on the links below and see what my friends have to share:
Lemon Strawberry Refrigerator Bars
©www.BakingInATornado.com
Ingredients:
14 lemon creme sandwich cookies, divided
14 strawberry creme sandwich cookies, divided
2 TBSP butter, chopped
1 box (3 oz) strawberry jello mix
1 box (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix
OPT: 2 drops yellow food coloring
1 3/4 cups milk
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
3/4 cup heavy cream
OPT: lemon peel twists and a halved strawberry for garnish
Directions
*Grease an 8 X 11 baking dish.
*In a food processor, crush 6 of each of the cookie to crumbs. Set aside.
*Crush the remaining cookies with the butter until it holds together when pinched with your fingers. Press into the bottom of the baking dish. Refrigerate.
*Boil 1 cup of water. Add the strawberry jello mix and stir to dissolve. Refrigerate.
*Whisk the lemon pudding mix with the milk (and yellow food coloring, if desired) for 2 minutes. Set aside.
*Beat the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in 1 1/4 cups of the pudding.
*Separately, beat the heavy cream with the remaining powdered sugar until stiff peaks hold. Fold 1 cup of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Spread over the cookies in the baking pan, sprinkle with about 2/3 of the reserved cookie crumbs, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
*Remove 1/4 cup of the whipped cream and refrigerate. Fold the remaining whipped cream into the remaining lemon pudding and refrigerate separately.
*Once the lemon layer is set, whisk the reserved 1/4 cup of whipped cream into the jello. Pour evenly over the lemon layer and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
*Remove the remaining whipped cream and pudding mix from the refrigerator and spread over the jello layer. Top with the rest of the reserved cookie crumbs (and lemon peel curls and strawberry halves, if desired). Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before slicing, but overnight is best. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
